Our work is grounded in the knowledge that meaning and hope can be found even in the most challenging times. As we witness increasing uncertainty, economic inequality, political instability and existential threat, we support humanity to find meaning and hope in face of an ever growing crisis of meaning.

Our work is having an impact in many areas

Meaningful Evaluation

The Map of Meaning has been adapted to provide a more holistic and systemic perspective on demonstrating and assessing the Social Impact of programs.

An example of this is Gianni Zappalà’s work using Meaningful Evaluation (ME), which he defines as an approach to understanding social impact that uncovers the extent to which participants in any given program experience its activities and outcomes as ‘meaningful’ in terms of personal growth, connection, reciprocity, and creativity.

ME acknowledges the importance of focusing on the subjective experience of participants, enables the identification and assessment of the sustainability of any outcomes, captures the inner process of change and any unintended consequences from participation in a program.

ME has been used by Gianni and colleagues at the University of Technology Sydney to complement existing evaluation frameworks and demonstrate the social impact of:

• The Primary Ethics program in NSW: the extent to which volunteer ethics teachers experience their participation in the program as meaningful
• The SOUL (Social Outcomes through University Leadership) program at UTS: the extent to which UTS students participating in Service Learning experienced their participation as meaningful
• The NSW Government Carer Investment Program (CIP): examined how carer’s lives were changed by engaging with the CIP projects,

In Africa

Our work is contributing to the vision of the Africa Leadership Transformation Foundation whose mission is to create 1 million leaders in 10 African countries by 2050. Together with Map of Meaning International, ALT has brought the Map to over 200 African leaders.

“Our vision is transforming leadership as the key to an Africa that works for everyone,” says ALT Executive Director, Daniel Kamanga. “We see the Map as integral to our vision. Discovery of meaning brings clarity of leadership. The Map is helping transform the way leaders approach existing challenges and opportunities.” 

The Map is now part of ALT's curriculum for the African Faith-inspired Leadership Course. Many African leaders working with youth and women are also finding the Map helpful in maintaining self-care in the midst of the challenges required to achieve their visions.

In Social work

Our work is being used in social work with young women to help them make sense of their situation and lives. 

Ursula Trexler uses the Map of Meaning with young women living in a protective environment to gain insight and increased inner strength to move into the outside world.

In Education

Our work is being used in the support of young people as they leave school and find their way into the world of work.

Anna Shaw uses the dimensions of the Map to highlight areas for growth, understanding and decision-making as students increase their sense of responsibility moving out of the school environment.

In Government Departments

Our work is used with teams in a Dutch Ministry to help them find direction in changing times. Lilian Kolker has designed specific team interventions to highlight the importance of understanding and working with what is meaningful in specific contexts. 

These ways of working enabled management and their teams to define their purpose and strategy to increase their impact and goals, but also the team's cohesion and well-being.

In the field of Meaningful Ageing

Our work is used by Meaningful Ageing Australia to support those who work with older people.

Understanding the dimensions of meaning helps carers hear and speak to the loss of meaning that can afflict older people, as well as support them in retaining, finding and creating meaning. 

In collaboration with Meaningful Ageing Australia, Lani Morris has written two workbooks that assist older people to better understand where meaning comes and goes as they age, as well as support carers become more skilled in their support of older people.

For Entrepreneurs

Our work is used in supporting entrepreneurs in caring for themselves, especially in the start-up period. 

Carlos Saba of The Happy Startup School uses the Map in the early stages of start-ups to highlight the importance of creating ways to ensure self-care in the hectic period of beginning a business.

For Applied Research 

Our work is being used in several applied research projects. For instance, a team led by Dr Tago Mharapara and Professor Marjo Lips-Wiersma is investigating how midwives experience meaningful and meaningless work. Specifically, their research objective is to identify the processes shaping midwives’ experiences of meaningful and meaningless work and the outcomes of those processes.

Our work is used in university education with both executive education and graduate students. An example of this is a course on career management at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam and Boston University and a course on sustainability transformation at Auckland University of Technology.

Current Research Initiatives

Meaningful Ageing

“As I got older I have been shocked at how ‘ageing’ is a largely neglected area in our social conversation. Some people will live thirty or more years, a third of their life, in a land where they become ‘oldies’, ‘grandparents’, ‘a drain on society’, ‘ a burden to their families’, wondering how to make the most of this time, while facing loss, dying and death. I can’t say I find this an inviting prospect. If this was an ad to another country I would not want to go. And I have no choice. The birthdays pass and I am there whether I like it or not.

So, working with Meaningful Ageing Australia we created two workbooks to help us deliberately engage with and increase meaningfulness in the last third of our life.”

Contact Meaningful Ageing Australia if you are interested in purchasing the workbooks.  Contact Lani Morris for more information on workshops and research into meaningful ageing.

Meaning and Leadership

Leadership requires people who understand meaning: their own and that of those who work with them. We offer workshops on Leading from Meaning.

Contact Celine McKeown if you are interested in this topic or want to participate in research initiatives on leadership and the Map of Meaning.

Education and the Map of Meaning

From having the Map of Meaning on the wall of a classroom of nine year olds, to using the Map to help students about to leave school, to connecting students from many cultures to the meaning of their study at university, to working with actors the day before they leave drama school to fling themselves into the uncertain future, our Certified Practitioners have explored ways to use the Map to support students build the framework of what truly matters to them into their approach to learning and to life.

Contact Lani Morris

Additional Research Projects

• Meaning & Sustainability

        Contact Marjolein Lips-Wiersma

• Meaning & Well-being 

        Contact Conny Weyrich

• Purpose, Values & Meaning 

        Contact Celine McKeown

• Meaningful Evaluation 

        Contact Gianni Zappalà

Get Involved

Volunteer 

We are a charitable trust. We exist because of the passion of those who work with the Map. If you love the Map of Meaning, and have skills you think we could use, we would love to hear from you.

Collaborate

So many research initiatives connect with work others are doing. Let's work together!

Opportunities

We are expanding as an organisation and would love to hear from you if you think you could help us expand further!